Forest Screaming
by GeorgiaMaeSixx
Summary: Macey doesn't like much. She doesn't even like her so-called friends. Her friend Jennifer starts acting stranger than usual and something is up. One late night searching Creepypasta will show her that her friend is suffering from something called 'slender-sickness' and she only remembers one thing. Slenderman
1. Chapter 1

Halloween was my favourite time of the year. People wouldn't call me names for how I dressed or what I liked, because for once I fit in with everyone else. I'd already began to eat candy in preparation whilst I waited for my friends to arrive (they always spent ridiculously long perfecting every detail of their costumes). I however, decided to simply go as myself, as people found that sickening and horrifying enough anyway, just because I didn't want to be an orange Barbie doll like the other girls in my life.

"Come with us and you will see, this, our town of Halloween" I sang along, fixing my black makeup. I loved the Marilyn Manson cover of the song so I had it on loop. They were now half an hour late and I was seriously considering leaving without them. The posters on my wall smiled wickedly at me and some even seemed to wink. "I'm flattered, really" I laughed, twirling for them.

"Your friends don't deserve you" one smiled. I ran my fingers over the paper of the poster, knowing it wasn't really talking to me; it was nice to know people thought I was nice though. Friends. We weren't really friends in the conventional way, more that we were forced to talk as none of us could fit in with anyone else. A friend by default is a nicer way to put it. "You're far too adventurous for them"

"But mom won't let me out if I don't go with my friends" I sighed a response, applying another layer of black nail polish to my fingernails with the new found time. Banging downstairs signified they were here so I placed the half empty bottle on my dresser and walked downstairs with a potato sack, blowing softly on my nails to help them dry. I'd only managed one hand so I looked mismatch at the moment.

"Hey Mace" my friends smiled up at me. I rolled my eyes with a 'huff' response and clutched the sack in my hand. Some strands of the material poked into my skin but I didn't notice; I was far too busy eyeing up what they had decided to wear. Chris had opted for a zombie costume and I found my cheeks flush with heat as I stared at him. He liked fire a lot, and nearly burned down a classroom, which I found strangely attractive. Jennifer was dressed like a slutty cat but that was how she dressed every day.

"Can we go now?" I sighed. They nodded and I ran out before they could utter another monotonous word. We targeted every house on our block, even though most refused to give us sweets because we were too old (personally, I don't see eighteen as being too old to trick or treat). However, we did go to enough houses that our sacks/pillowcases were full.

"Hey Macey" Chris smiled. Nobody called me by my full first name anymore because I sprayed a teacher in the face with pepper spray and now everybody calls me Mace unless they want something. If he thinks I'm going to hop into bed with him he can expect to be beaten up. "We were going to go and chill in the forest; we found a clearing where we can sit. Wanna come?" he asked with hope in his eyes. I shrugged and nodded. It didn't sound that bad.

Jennifer led us to the clearing they had found. Apparently her mum wouldn't let her come tonight so she hid out in the forest for a while until Chris picked her up. That had given her enough time to find a perfect spot to sit around a fire and eat candy and marshmallows. The thing that worried me is that despite the fact she dressed completely exposed, she was a very introverted and insecure person. She would never talk. Never show her emotions. If she was taller I would've likened her to that guy from Creepypasta.

Chris collected some logs and placed them in the middle of the clearing, before dropping his lighter onto the pile. I watched it catch fire, each piece of wood soon consumed by the flames. Somehow it reminded me of my life. If I had stayed normal then I would remain normal, but I was burnt by everything around me. Chris empties his case of candy into an empty space behind him, followed by Jennifer and then my own. We had a considerably big stash.

I'd never seen Jennifer eat in person; she had claimed that she didn't eat outside of her house because of her body issues. Chris and I were suspicious but it meant we had more candy as we halved her pile. She seemed distant – at least more than usual – as she stared out into the trees. I nudged her repeatedly but she failed to notice.

"What's up with her?" Chris asked. I shrugged. A smile crept onto her face and I felt myself breathe calmly again, she was alive at least. "And now she's smiling at some trees, because that's not weird or messed up at all"

"Shut up" I sighed, sending a punch straight into his ribs.

"I'm not messed up" Jennifer stated, looking directly at us both. Chris and I stared back at her in shock at the simple fact that she had spoken. "I just...the forest calms me down. It's not judging me. It's not laughing at me. It's not stealing from me..." she continued, glaring at the candy. "I always sit in the forest when I get lonely or upset. It's not like my parents, it won't blame everything on me. It welcomes me with open arms"

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled when she relished my warmth and rested her shivering body against my own. I loved Jennifer like a sister...but I hated it when she made out that everyone hated her. Grabbing a stick, I attached a marshmallow to the end and hovered it over the flames, turning it as if on a spit. It soon toasted and I handed it to her, watching her nibble at it.

She looked up at me with a smile. "Mace?"

"Yeah?" I replied, staring into the trees. I used to play here with my sister before she left. The clearing was only here because they took away the playground after some children lost their way in the trees and never made it out.

"I'm glad you're my friend. You as well" she smiled, looking over at Chris. He smiled back with a blush across his cheeks, to which I sighed.

"We'll always be your friends, I promise"

She sighed happily and placed her hands up to the flames, taking in their warmth. I looked in the direction she was staring and noticed nothing strange, just another guy hanging out. He was tall, I liked tall guy. When Chris looked at the time we all collected our candy, put the fire out and ran home. Jennifer was reluctant to, but she followed us in the end.


	2. Chapter 2

I watched them run from the clearing and prodded the burnt log curiously. Hunched over I picked up one of the candy wrappers and sniffed it, then threw it onto the remains of the source of light, warmth and comfort. Halloween was a feeble and weak thing, dressing up to scare people out of their generosity of sweet things. The wrapper contorted over the remaining heat and I watched, sitting on the floor with my legs crossed.

My extra limbs were hidden; nobody would venture into the woods on Halloween except those brave enough, but I had already missed my chance. Usually I wouldn't follow people unless I had the intention of watching their mind fear itself, to make them question their sanity and look everywhere to make their mind rest. I brushed the ashes from my suit and sketched with a piece of the burnt wood onto some dropped notebook paper.

Branches creaked. Without thinking I appeared in the middle of some trees with a better view at what had caused the sudden noise. Standing half behind a tree, I saw one of the girls I had observed as being in the clearing. I believe her name was Jennifer. I'd followed her when she was a child along with her other friend, but that soon stopped when she had to take medication. She forgot all about me.

I could sense her fear and oh how it smelled so _tempting_. But no, I'd have some fun with her for the years I missed out. She was still unsettled though, as if the memories that had been buried were telling her to stay away because of the danger. Her torch flickered in my direction and I disappeared. "Who's there?" she asked, yelling out at the forest now shaking like a leaf. "This isn't funny"

_It's not meant to be_, I thought. I would make her truly scared, and then I could take what should've been mine all those years ago. I don't like it when people get away, but then again, it isn't a regular occurrence. Ever since that website outed me, people just laugh when they hear my name. This girl however had obviously not, and she looked like she was about to cry. Good.

I felt my appendages burst from my back. I flickered in her view every time she turned her back, getting closer and closer each time, so close I could taste the fear radiating off of her. I remembered however that I couldn't kill her, not just yet. I wanted to send a warning to people so that they will fear me again.

Still appearing in her vision, I followed her home. Her parents were strange people, they reminded me of myself in a way, constantly asking her if she was ok or if she was eating enough. I remained careful to only show myself to her, her parents would recognise me from her childhood. "Slenderman...he's following me again" she sobbed. Her parents laughed as if she was a lunatic.

"Sure...maybe we should have enrolled you in that clinic after all. Or maybe we can put you on more medication. It's those friends of yours, they're a bad influence" her dad replied, only briefly looking up from his newspaper. "You're just going to go more insane if you hang around with them"

"Shut up George. She can make her own decisions. She's not a **child** anymore" her mother defended, hitting her husband around the ear. I never did understand the humans, they would hit each other but still claim to feel such things as love or compassion. They were a truly vile race if ever I saw one...that would be if I had eyes. I can still see though, just in my genes I assume.

Whilst they were arguing, they failed to see that Jennifer had ran upstairs to her room. No matter. I watched her from her open doorway, letting her know that a presence was there at the least. She kept shivering and checking the window for me. She had searched a website on her computer and was looking through it, when the phone rang. It made her jump.

"Mace! You scared me!" She screamed down the phone, to which her friend chuckled. The weird girl I thought. "Look Macey, I'm really scared. Remember that story I wrote about that creature, it's true ok. It happened to me when I was a child. He's after me again" she shook, then began to cough violently. I caused it. The humans had called it slender-sickness, caused by my presence.

They talked for a long time, discussing Jennifer's apparent sightings of me. I pushed her door open gently so I could get a better look and watched as she stared at me in shock. "I-I have to go" she stuttered, hanging up quickly. She would be easy to have fun with, and hopefully it would restore my fear amongst the humans.

Towering at my full height I appeared outside the weird girl's house. I looked through her window as she also searched the website for more clues. I ducked before she could see me, but I knew that she knew I was there. Her name was Macey. She liked rock music from the posters that covered every inch of her walls. She didn't seem as fragile as her friend. There was also a guy with them when they sat in the clearing. I would have to track him too.

She comforted Jennifer over a chat on the internet. But even Macey seemed shaken, and so she should be. If only she knew how they would find each body, mutilated and gutted and impaled on a tree as a warning. My source of entertainment. Macey had fashioned a type of costume mask with painted black lips and black around the eye holes, with tiny drawn on eyebrows. Her work was exquisite, to say the least.

"Coughing, paranoia...Jennifer must be pulling a prank" Macey mumbled to herself, munching on more candies. "Seriously, does she actually believe in this guy?"

She has good reason to believe in me. I smiled, showing long sharp teeth that were covered with blood. Then she looked over, and the phone dropped from her hand before she had chance to call her friend. It hit the ground with a crack.


	3. Chapter 3

_I was running. Jennifer was gone, Chris was gone...everyone had just gone. I'd woken up in my room but everything was covered in blood. So I did the first thing anybody would do, I got up, got dressed and ran. Sure it was a long drop from my window but I didn't land in glass, so everything was ok. Shit. I'm going to die aren't I. That was the only thing my mind could process. Maybe if I hid my identity from him, he wouldn't be able to follow me._

_I saw that my mask had fallen from my window along with me, so I put it on and pulled my hoodie up so that it covered my hair .I looked like an entirely different person (which was my intention) and I would have some sort of chance. I picked up a shard of glass and ran towards the forest, soon consumed by darkness._

_My torch flickered when I tried to turn it on, so I discarded it and lit a small branch, creating a more reliable, if not shorter in lifespan, torch that would aid my vision. I just had to be careful to avoid setting myself or everything around me on fire. It was when I was thinking that I could feel something tentacle-like slime across my shoulder, making me shiver. The wind blew the flaming torch out and suddenly everything was dark again._

_I blinked. My breaths echoed on the inside of the mask. Whoever it was, whatever it was, it knew I was here. Despite being shrouded and covered up, I could still hear chuckling. Maybe it was him...the thing from those made up stories. "Slenderman" I stuttered, watching as the burning branch went out from a gust of wind. "Shit"_

_When I looked through the trees, squinting through the fog, I could see him as clear as day now. If he had a face he would be laughing at my attempts to get out now (little did I know that the forest was never ending, or at least it seemed like it) and he would just stand there until I begged for him to end it all. But no, he simply tilted his head to the side as if in thought and moved with every blink. I scrunched up my eyes and when I opened them, he was directly in front of me._

_Towering above me I could now feel my heart pound against my ribs as I looked up at him. He seemed taller than I expected and more menacing. My breaths were echoed back at me against the mask and I knew that I had no chance. He carefully picked the mask from my face and examined it, stroking over the black details by the eyes with one of his tentacles. _

_"You think hiding behind this is going to help? Maybe you would be useful..."_

_I thought I'd imagined him saying that to me but he was talking. Whereas he had no features before, the skin had torn open to reveal a large mouth that took up the lower part of his face, the teeth extremely long and perfect for grinding and chewing skin. Then everything went black, and all I could hear was crunching._

* * *

I sat up in bed covered in sweat and shaking. Rushing to my window, it was still locked like the night before. I sighed in relief, even though his appearance still haunted me wherever I looked. My mask was missing though, with a note left in its place.

**Macey,**

**It was nice watching you run around screaming. However, after talking to you for a while I believe that I could use your help. I liked your mask as well, very good work. I thought of a little nickname for you...masky. If you don't come to the forest at midnight tonight then don't think your friends will make it till morning.**

**-S**


	4. Chapter 4

She would be very good for my dirty work, like getting rid of all traces of bodies and luring people in. Most people had got so scared that they wouldn't dare to set foot in the woods anymore. Hmm. She would be perfect actually; her use of a mask would leave her identity anonymous and then people would fear me more for manipulating people.

Obviously I had no use for her pesky little friends. They were neither smart nor strong willed and would not be fit to work for me. And what am I you ask? Well...there are different theories. Some call me The Operator (those such as Jay and Alex, and their very useful friend Tim), some called me The Tall Man, and others knew me through some game.

You..._dear readers_...may call me Slenderman.

It was now 11:58pm and I was growing severely impatient. I had watched Macey talk to her friends hysterically about the note I had left her with. True to her 'I'll be the one to save everyone' attitude, she arrived. I watched her from behind a tree, unaware of how she would react to me up close. She looked to be barely taller than five foot four whereas I stood at ten foot one. Holding the strap of her backpack she looked around in the brisk night wind. Without a torch you could barely see.

"Erm...I'm here?" she asked into the forest, confused. I could hear every snap of the branches beneath her feet and it took a lot of will power to keep her alive. "I don't really know if you're real or not, or if I was dreaming when I saw you, but if this is a prank I'm ringing the police..."

"Oh, you won't have to do that" I replied, stepping out from behind the tree. I didn't speak the words though...I merely made her thoughts hear mine. She dropped her bag in pure shock and her facial expression resembled that of horror. "Don't be scared"

"HOW CAN I NOT BE SCARED? YOU MURDER PEOPLE!" she yelled at me, not knowing where to look. I bent down to her height and dragged a finger across her cheek, making blood swell at the freshly made cut. She didn't flinch; maybe she knew that this might be the end for her. "I-I...I'm sorry"

She rummaged through her stuff, to get her phone I presume and ring the police. Instead, she pulled out her mask. "Is this the mask you were talking about?" she asked. Yes, the one with the black detail. It resembled Tim's nicely. I nodded in response. "W-why did you ask me to come here?"

"I need help...a proxy. You will do nicely. Well, that's if you make it through training and if you can help me find a certain pair who caught me on videotape. If you do, you'll be one of the few"

"What do you mean? Did the proxies make it?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"One did"

**Hi everyone! Thanks for reading my story so far. I'd love to get reviews and maybe a couple of suggestions. You never know, they may end up in here? Questions are appreciated too! Sorry for the late chapter, and sorry it wasn't long**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Slenderman, anything Creepypasta or anything related to MarbleHornets. Sorry about the long wait, I've been busy with other stories.**

I followed the dank smell of rotting flesh and dry blood. By now I was just used to it. It'd been two years since that night, and I was a full proxy. Life was simple really: I led people into the forest for the boss, then he 'disposed' of them, and I had to clean up all the loose ends to make sure the police never caught on. Of course, that'd made me a wanted criminal and some stories had even popped up from conspiracy theorists and fans.

I'd also managed to find some things out about this Slenderman. Jennifer had definitely been suffering from Slender-Sickness as he had told me. When he was around, or stalking someone, they would become extremely paranoid and nauseous, and would even sometimes be too scared or ill to leave their homes. Camera equipment never worked either, as it would become full of audio-distortion or static.

Masky. That wasn't even an original nickname. After some late night internet searches I stumbled across someone called Tim. Apparently he'd been part of this thing called MarbleHornets and also became this 'Masky' proxy, even with a similar mask to myself. Then one night he just disappeared. I asked Slenderman about this but he told me not to get involved with things that didn't involve me.

I watched my newest victim from the branch of a tree. I always liked to watch from a distance so I could use the element of surprise. But, as always, boss would scold me about leaving too much evidence. It only took me five minutes to work out what needed to be done; I was going to run away. Not the best idea, I know, but I stood some sort of chance rather than sitting here.

I wanted my friends back. Jennifer had been sent away to some sort of boarding school and Chris was just being Chris. They'd already replaced me with this guy called Jeff who frankly crept me out. He always smiled in this child-like grin. If I'd learnt anything it was not to trust anyone that looked either suspicious or crazy, and this Jeff looked both.

Clutching my bag under my arm, I jumped from the tree and landed on the floor almost silent. Boss was away and I knew that I would have to be quick. I zipped my large coat up and ran towards the edge of the forest like I had done so many times before. The trees had gone and I was soon part of the concrete jungle once again. I must've been running for a long while because I passed out on a doorstep.

I looked up to see a familiar man standing over me as though I'd seen him before but not known him that well. Maybe I'd passed him once or twice. He couldn't be trusted...there was just something about him that looked wrong. Behind the wispy blue eyes there laid pain, anger and hurt. I also noticed that my mask was in his hands which also made me worry, maybe he'd report me. _I don't want to spend my life in jail._

"You...you think that this is funny? YOU'RE BASICALLY A MURDERER! You led my family...to that m-monster!" the man screamed at me, tears rolling from his eyes. Now I could tell why he was angry with me. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"

Luckily I kept a pocket knife with me all of the time. I could already see him reach for his phone to call the police. "You don't want to do that"

"WHY NOT? I HAVE EVERY REASON TO!" he yelled, showing how upset and angry he was. I stepped back, flicking the blade out. "WHAT? Are you going to murder me now as well?" he asked, and I could hear the tremble in his voice. "SO I CAN BE WITH MY FAMILY?" he screamed.

"Not if I don't have a valid reason to" I replied, slinking back into the shadows. I followed the alleyway along to a cul-de-sac full of well-off houses, and it looked like a stereotypical neighbourhood. Complete with white picket fences. No forests in sight; that was always a bonus. Something was wrong though...very wrong. It was now dark, and I knew I had to find shelter.

**_Trying to run away?_**

No. Not now! He knew how to get in my head. I ran towards a field and kept running as fast as I could (my training had given me a lot more speed and stamina) until I came across a disused, broken and dilapidated mental hospital. I traced my fingers over the circle with a cross through it on the wall and hid as I heard a crashing sound. I took my mask off silently and peeked out from behind a wall.

He had the same mask as me.

"Tim" I blinked.


End file.
